eCommerce Software

ECommerce Software can help to build online storefronts without worrying about programming skills or technical know-hows. These software are also available with plenty of extensions related to payment, accounting, shipping, tax and much more to customize the shopping experience for users.

Here is a list of some leading shopping cart software ranked by their popularity.

eCommerce Software Buying Guide

E-commerce has been
exponentially growing over the years and it has shown no signs of
stopping. Over time, we can expect brick and mortar retail stores to
experience a major downturn as e-commerce continues to eat up market
share. If you are looking to start an online store, now would be the
perfect time.

Unless you have come up with an innovative,
revolutionary method of purchasing online, your best bet would be to use
an eCommerce software. There are dozens on the market and this guide
will help you decide which features you need to look for in order to
maximize the outcome of the final store you sell to your customers.

Mobile Support

This
is on top of the list because this is perhaps the most important of
them all. The reason E-commerce is exponentially growing is because
purchasing online has become easier than ever before thanks to tablets
and mobiles that accommodate a lot of screen real estate. The December
shopping season proved this point as consumers purchased more via their
mobile devices rather than their desktop or laptop computers. Any good
ecommerce software would take this into consideration.

A good
webshop software would incorporate responsive design into their themes
and offer admin features across all platforms. To make things even
easier, some shopping cart software has dedicated mobile apps to manage
your store better on the go.

Security

Security is
essential when running an online store. Hundreds or even thousands of
transactions will be taking place via your store so you need to ensure
you are on top in terms of security where hacking and credit card theft
is rife. PCI complaint online shopping cart software is not uncommon and
all major providers offer this option. You will also find that a good
shopping cart software offers at least 128-bit SSL encryption with some
services going the extra mile by offering 256-bit encryption. Don’t
skimp on security, make sure you get the best.

Bandwidth and Storage

There
are different ways eCommerce software structures their plans. Some of
the most generous companies offer unlimited bandwidth and storage which
would be ideal. However, if there is another service more suited to what
you are looking for in terms of features, but has bandwidth and disk
storage limitations, you shouldn’t shy away from it, specifically if you
are not going to be having a ton of visitors and content on your
website.

The best option would be to assess how much disk
space you will need and how much traffic you will be expecting for your
foreseeable future and choose a plan accordingly.

Design & Templates

There
is no doubt that your website design is important, especially in the
current design-centric phase of the internet. Most eCommerce software
provides several stock theme options to work with. You have a few
options here; in most cases the stock themes provided may not be
adequate for you. One option is to amend the HTML and CSS, which
virtually all shopping cart services give you the option to do. If you
don’t have the technical know how you can hire someone to do these
modifications for you. The most expensive option would be to hire the
shopping cart services’ in-house designers to custom build a theme for
you which can be very expensive. If branding is a big part of your
marketing campaign, it may be worthwhile, but we would advise allowing a
bit of cash-flow and profitability before spending thousands of dollars
on a custom theme design.

Marketing Tools

Most
eCommerce software solutions provide at least a few features to boost
your marketing efforts. This can be by way of on-site optimizations or
tools to garner more sales. When it comes to improving your overall
exposure, some eCommerce software solutions provide SEO benefits by
adhering to SEO guidelines within the software for better search engine
rankings. Another way of improving overall marketing efforts is by
integrating with third party services such as Facebook and Twitter and
providing automatic submission of your store or products to online
directories.

Another aspect in terms of features would be
promotional tools to entice sales. This includes providing coupon codes,
having “deal of the day” offers, waiving off shipping charges for
larger purchases and upselling tools during checkout.

UI User Friendliness

If
you are new to this space, user-friendliness can be of utmost
importance. Most eCommerce software is bundled with an array of
features. In most cases, you will use only a percentage of available
options and the rest would just be noise to you. A confusing layout and
poorly worded features can leave you quite clueless and confused.

This
would go hand in hand with support and customer service. If a service
is confusing, with adequate documentation, you could perhaps understand
the interface after a while. If user-friendliness is important to you,
it would be advisable to sign up for the free trial that most of the
services provide to get a feel of how well you can figure out how to run
the software.

Payment Processing & Integration Options

You
can expect at least some level of compatibility with most online
shopping cart services. If you are based in North America, you won’t
have much trouble finding an adequate payment processing service but if
you are overseas, you may find yourself limited to certain eCommerce
software because you may have a very specific requirement of payment
processing. Most services have merchant services where the eCommerce
software company resells a merchant service. This can sometimes be quite
pricey so it can be useful to dabble in the feed and associated costs
to find out which one is most cost-effective and of course dependable.

Reports & Analytics

No
matter what you are looking to accomplish with your store, reports are
important. They say that it’s all about the numbers, and for the most
part, it’s true. Reports can sometimes expose gaping holes such as an
increased cart abandonment rate when you change certain elements on your
check out page or it can help you gain insight on useful data over time
such as which months of the year, your sales plummet or thrive. Make
sure you get enough reporting data with the shopping cart software you
choose.